Loretta Lynn passed away early Tuesday morning at the age of 90. During her 60-year music career, she received every music award known to musicians. In 1988 She was also inducted into the County Music Hall of Fame. In 1972, Lynn was the first woman the Country Music Association gave the entertainer of the year award to and the first woman to be given the same honor by the Academy of Country Music just three years later.
Her family put out a statement and shared it with Fox News,
“Our precious mom, Loretta Lynn, passed away peacefully this morning, October 4th, in her sleep at home in her beloved ranch in Hurricane Mills,”
They said a memorial would be announced later and have asked for privacy during their grieving.
BREAKING: Loretta Lynn, country music icon, dead at 90 https://t.co/jBpNm9mTr7
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 4, 2022
Lynn said she saw what the lives of rural women involved and wrote her music based on the truth of those experiences,
“I could see that other women was goin’ through the same thing, ’cause I worked the clubs. I wasn’t the only one that was livin’ that life and I’m not the only one that’s gonna be livin’ today what I’m writin’.”
Lynn’s audience grew after she wrote her story into an autobiography in 1969. The book was turned into the “Coal Miner’s Daughter” in 1980. Lynn was played by Sissy Spacek, who won an Academy Award based on her performance and was nominated for the film of the year.
Lynn was married for almost 50 years to her husband, whom she wedded at age 15. He died in 1996, and the couple had six children together.
Country Music Hall of Fame tweeted that Loretta Lynn’s life was unlike any other, yet she drew from it a body of work that resonated with people everywhere.”
“Loretta Lynn's life was unlike any other, yet she drew from it a body of work that resonates with people everywhere. In a music business that is often concerned with aspiration and fantasy, Loretta insisted on sharing her own brash and brave truth.”
—Kyle Young, CEO pic.twitter.com/pSJlkzT9aD
— Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (@countrymusichof) October 4, 2022
Lynn was revered as a symbol of rural resilience the New York Times tweeted. “The more you hurt, the better the song is” she said. “You put your whole heart into a song when you’re hurting.”
Born in a cabin in Kentucky coal country, Loretta Lynn was revered not just a country music star, but as a symbol of rural resilience. "The more you hurt, the better the song is," she said. "You put your whole heart into a song when you’re hurting." https://t.co/vn16udvE29 pic.twitter.com/uwyzBJd5m6
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 4, 2022